GALVESTON – One local couple booked what they hope would be a fun cruise.
Dave and Debbie Johnson said they expected their trip would be canceled. However, they did not expect an adventure to get answers from the Carnival cruise line.
"They are not transparent," Dave said. "They are not giving us any information."
The couple booked these tickets for a school reunion they do every year. They spent more than $1,900 for the trip in April.
On March 30, the couple learned that Carnival was canceling the trip on Facebook than they received an email. Carnival offered two options.
"A future cruise with a voucher and bonus or a full cash refund. I chose option two," Dave said.
But after filling out the form, their gratitude soon turned into skepticism, they said.
"Got a submission saying, 'We received your submission,'" said Dave. "That's it. I've tried several times to contact Carnival with no luck."
The couple said they had no idea when their money would come. After fruitless emails and voicemails, they decided to call the corporate headquarters for more information.
They said a Carnival representative said they didn't have any updated information to provide.
"I don't understand that," Dave said. "But, they're taking any phone calls to book future cruises."
To try to get more information on their refunds, they turned to Facebook and were shocked at what they read.
"Carnival was responding, telling some people it could be 3-6 months, telling others well it could be 6-9 months," Debbie said.
As of Friday, the couple still had a direct response to a refund.
"I got through [on the phone] one time after being on the phone for 45 minutes, talked to a gal, and said, 'Well, can I talk to somebody who's going to give me some information?' She said, 'No, I could put you on hold, but it's going to take 3 to 4 hours. They're not going to tell you much more than what I'll tell you.'" Dave said.
They said their main desire if for Carvail to provide customers their refunds in a timely fashion.
"It's about doing the right thing," Dave said.
KPRC reached out to Carnival. The company provided a written statement:
Nearly one million Carnival guests have been impacted by this extended pause in cruising, which dwarfs any disruption we’ve experienced in even the worst hurricane season. We continue to take refund requests as quickly as we can. Our customer service staff are all approved for overtime and we have trained other management employees to help as well. We are committed to issuing refunds as soon as possible, but cannot give an approximate date at this time.